The Layoff Club

Laid off from Autodesk.

Autodesk cut 9% in February 2025, then another round in early 2026, roughly 2,350 roles across the two, with its California filings marking each. The company calls the second one the final phase of its sales and marketing optimization, and says AI replacement didn't drive it.

At a glance

What's known about Autodesk severance and layoffs

  • About 1,350 roles, 9% · February 2025 round
  • About 1,000 roles, 7% · January 2026 round
  • 289, then 104 · California filings in our tracker
  • Not published · Individual severance terms
  • About 14,300, down from 15,300 · Headcount, end of fiscal 2026
  • $135 million to $160 million · January 2026 restructuring charge
  • One Market Plaza, San Francisco · Where the 2025 California cuts sat

Recent Autodesk layoffs

Autodesk filed a second cut in January 2026

Autodesk announced about 1,000 roles, 7% of the company on January 22, 2026, a significant portion of them in customer-facing sales, and called the round the culmination of its sales and marketing optimization. A 104-role California notice followed the next day. The company put the charge at $135 million to $160 million, primarily employee termination benefits, and expected the work to finish by the end of its fiscal 2027.

Previous rounds

Autodesk layoff history

Autodesk cut twice in eleven months, and both rounds sit in the company's own SEC filings rather than in secondhand accounts. February 27, 2025 took about 1,350 roles, 9% of the company, along with other exit costs and facility reductions, announced beside a stated reallocation of resources toward cloud, platform and artificial intelligence investments. January 22, 2026 took about 1,000 more, 7%, with a significant portion of them in customer-facing sales functions, and Autodesk called that one the culmination of the sales and marketing optimization the first had started. In his letter that day, chief executive Andrew Anagnost wrote that the reduction "will not become an annual process at Autodesk."

The annual report carries a figure the announcements don't. Autodesk reported about 14,300 employees at the end of January 2026, down from about 15,300 a year earlier, a decline of roughly 1,000 across the fiscal year that held the first round. The two announcements together name about 2,350 roles. That gap is arithmetic rather than a contradiction, because a reported headcount is a net figure that sets hiring and attrition against the reductions. The same report recorded the February 2025 plan as substantially complete at that fiscal year end, while the January 2026 plan was still running toward a finish the company put at the end of its fiscal 2027.

Both plans were costed in advance. Autodesk put the February 2025 round at $135 million to $150 million before taxes, a substantial majority of it cash, and the January 2026 round at $135 million to $160 million, primarily employee termination benefits, with $100 million of that accrued by the end of January 2026. In the same filing that announced the second round, the company told investors it expected fourth-quarter and full-year billings, revenue, operating margin, earnings per share and free cash flow all to land above the top end of the guidance it gave three months earlier. On the first round, a spokesperson told CNBC the company would make facility reductions without closing any offices.

Our tracker holds 10 all-time filings for Autodesk, every one of them in California, and 2 filings covering 393 jobs since the start of 2025. The February 2025 notice covered 289 jobs and the January 2026 notice 104. Reading the 2025 letter, the San Francisco Examiner reported those cuts were concentrated at the company's One Market Plaza offices and took effect April 29, 2025, and that the letter carried no tally of which positions went. For the second round, a spokesperson told SFGATE about 10% of the layoffs would hit San Francisco workers. California asks employers of 75 or more for at least 60 days of written notice ahead of a mass layoff. Four parties have to receive it, and you're one of them, along with the Employment Development Department, your local workforce development area, and whichever elected official heads the local government where the cuts fall.

Layoffs are hard, and severance paperwork asks for careful decisions at the worst possible moment for making them. Severance exists in both rounds as a named commitment without terms. The 2025 letter promised severance and help finding other work; the 2026 letter promised severance, benefits continuation and career transition assistance, where applicable. No amount, formula or length appears in any filing, letter or report we track, so your own agreement is what governs what you were actually offered. The EEOC says many employers offer departing employees money or benefits in exchange for releasing claims connected to the employment relationship, discrimination claims included, which makes its guidance worth reading before you sign. Check the notice date on your own paperwork against what California asks of employers, keep every version of what you were sent, and our WARN filing tracker holds the California notices behind both rounds.

Reporting on previous Autodesk layoff rounds

How Autodesk's layoffs compare to other companies

Two rounds in eleven months, and the filing that announced the second also told investors the quarter would come in above the top of the company's own guidance. That pairing is the useful signal for anyone weighing whether to stay, because the January 2026 cut arrived while the company was raising its own expectations rather than lowering them. Autodesk put a significant portion of that round in customer-facing sales, the same organization the February 2025 round set out to reshape.

What to do after being laid off from Autodesk

  1. File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Autodesk's biggest hubs: California, Oregon, Colorado. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
  2. Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Autodesk's hub states run: California, Oregon, Colorado, and every other state is here.
  3. Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
  4. Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
  5. Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.

Autodesk layoff and severance questions

What severance does Autodesk pay in layoffs?

No individual terms are on record for either round. Both CEO letters name what the packages held, severance and job-finding help in 2025, severance plus benefits continuation and career transition assistance in 2026, and neither publishes an amount, a formula, or a length. The company's fiscal 2026 report shows $100 million accrued against the January 2026 plan, which is money set aside in the accounts rather than a figure attached to any one person. Your own offer paperwork is what sets your terms, and no filing or report we track spells them out.

Why did Autodesk cut twice in a year?

The company gave a different reason each time. February 2025 was framed as the start of reshaping the go-to-market organization, announced beside a stated shift of resources toward cloud, platform and artificial intelligence investments. January 2026 was framed as finishing that same sales and marketing work, with a significant portion of the reductions in customer-facing sales functions. In his letter that day, Andrew Anagnost wrote that the reduction "will not become an annual process at Autodesk."

Where does Autodesk experience transfer?

The filings name one function rather than a full occupational mix. Autodesk put a significant portion of the January 2026 reductions in customer-facing sales, and the February 2025 round was announced as the start of reshaping that same go-to-market organization, so sales and customer-facing work is the background the record actually identifies. The filings say nothing about which teams the rest of either round came from, and the February 2025 notice carried no tally of positions by title. The 289 California roles filed that year sat at One Market Plaza in San Francisco.

How many people did Autodesk lay off in 2026?

About 1,000 worldwide, or 7% of the workforce, announced January 22, 2026. In California, the only state where our tracker holds filings for this company, the notice covered 104 jobs. Autodesk put the plan's cost at $135 million to $160 million before taxes, primarily employee termination benefits, and said it expected to complete the plan by the end of its fourth quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to local law and consultation requirements.

Did Autodesk lay off employees because of AI?

Not by the company's own account. In his January 2026 letter, Andrew Anagnost wrote that the changes were "not driven by the external environment or an effort to replace people with AI," and the filing names the completion of a multi-year sales and marketing program instead. Autodesk did say it would reinvest in its AI, platform and industry cloud work, and the February 2025 filing named the same investments beside that round. Those are reallocations the company stated alongside its cuts, and no source here establishes more than that.

Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Autodesk?

In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Autodesk's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Oregon, Colorado. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.

Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Autodesk?

Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.

What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Autodesk?

Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.

Should I sign the severance agreement right away?

First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.

Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Autodesk?

Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.